LW Rebalance - Blogging Brutal v1.42 part II
The Summer is a race to Gauss, and a few soldiers are lost on the way.
This post continues from LW Rebalance - Blogging Brutal v1.42 part I, and will cover June through August. Here is what I wrote about the summer in my v1.36 Brutal Blog:
At AL 3-4, it starts getting real. We are fighting squads of mutons and murderous cyberdiscs. With increased health everything is dangerous. Terror missions and bomb disposals are terrifying. It is time to start playing smart and cautious, because mistakes will be punished.
And sure enough, I lost 2 soldiers on a terror mission in early July.
At the start of summer, it feels like you are falling behind. The aliens have gotten stronger, but your squads are still fighting with low damage weapons, and there is an intense sense of urgency as you stumble upon pods of Mutons and Cyberdisc leaders; we need more firepower.
June
Technology: Racing to Gauss - that is the plan. I am not going to be tricked into interrogating a muton first, which would take too long.
Interrogate Thin Man Cyberdisc Autopsy Experimental Warfare Gauss Weapons
Engineering: I built 5 Carapace armors without really considering it, and now I am wondering if Kestrel Armor might be better. Mobility is often more important than a few extra HP.
I have my first MEC by mid June.
June 1: Carapace Armor x 5 June 2: MEC-1 June 3: Laboratory #2 June 8: Kinetic Strike Module June 10: Workshop #2 (timed to complete July 1) June 11: Satellite Uplink (quickly), Satellite x 2 June 15: Arc Rifle, Kestrel Armor x 3 June 20: Chitin Plating x 2 June 22: Laser Carbine, Holo Charger June 24: Improved Medikits June 29: Arc Pistol, New Combat Systems June 30: Scope x 2 (total of 5 - should have built these sooner)
Base Buildout on June 30:
Campaign Notes:
June was an incredible month. I ran 2 Alien Base Assaults, and cleared the map of alien bases.
The first ABA should have been done in late May, but a downed satellite delayed it till June 2. There were about 26 enemies, and I was able to fight each pod one at a time - the most important metric for success.
I am seeing a few cyberdiscs in June and they are scary as f***.
Site Recon went well. My previous 1.42 Brutal campaign died in Newfoundland; I was unfamiliar with the new chryssalid rules. This time around I brought ample grenades (rushed tactical rigging) and moved through the map very slowly.
Missed a scout mission in June because it was over the US, and I had not bought any Interceptors in N. America. I assumed the aliens would hunt the satellite, and had not considered that I might miss a scout. I am not sure if I could have purchased sufficient interceptors to bring down a scout at AL3.
I ran the 2nd ABA on June 29, which was much harder of course. AL 3; Incursion ~120; 46 aliens. Pods: Sectoid Commander, Chryssalids, Sectoids, Floaters, Sectoids, Sectoids. Only once did I have to fight multiple pods at the same time. I prevailed with only one significant wound.
June begins and ends with an ABA, and the aliens are left with zero countries. All your base are belong to us.
July
Technology: I start research on Adv. Beam Lasers right after getting Gauss, which feels weird. Perhaps I’ve done something wrong.
I get Advanced Aerospace Concepts around the same time I take Asia, and complete the 2x2 Workshop block, and this allows me to start a bunch of foundry projects at a discount. Everything lined up perfectly. Next I am targeting Adv. Gauss Weapons. I don’t have enough alloys to support this technology, and so I am happy to Interrogate a Muton first.
Adv. Beam Lasers Interrogate Floater Seeker Autopsy Advanced Aerospace Concepts Interrogate Muton
Engineering: I am ordering interceptors in N. America well after launching satellites. Leaving the satellites unprotected really backfired on me this campaign, which I will discuss in the campaign notes.
This month is all about Foundry projects. I have been delaying many projects in anticipation of the discount, and along with those, I am also starting some projects that are just now available from Adv. Aerospace Concepts.
I chop another MEC and now have 2 (Goliath, Marauder). I feel like I should have more MECs at this point; it would be a big help. Perhaps I sold too much meld early on, or have not been conserving it well. EDIT: I made a 2nd skeleton key in June, which would have payed the meld cost for a 3rd MEC.
July 1: Interceptor x 3 (9 total) July 2: Satellite, Smartshell Pod July 4: Rookie July 6: Laboratory #3, Fission Gen July 8: Gauss Assault Rifle x 2, Gauss Alloy Cannon July 11: Laser Strike Rifle x 2, Laser Autorifle July 12: Shaped Armor, Alien Grenades, Advanced Surgery, Improved Salvage, SHIV Advancements II, Psi Warfare Systems (Asia Bonus achieved) July 16: Phoenix Cannon x 2 July 23: Phoenix Coilguns, MEC Warfare Systems, Acid Grenade, Gauss Sentry Gun, Phoenix Cannon July 24: Laser Lance July 30: Armored Fighters
Base Buildout on July 31:
Campaign Notes:
On July 4th there was a disastrous terror mission. A cyberdisc Gunship activated alongside a pod of chryssalids, and then more lids arrived on the next turn. The Gunship was able to sit back and snipe my squad as I was forced to fight bugs. All this was made more dangerous because I ran out of smoke after 3 turns (“damn you new smoke rules!” [shakes fist]). The disc went through it’s whole clip (5 ammo), reloaded, then fired once more before I finally killed it. With over 100 aim, it had at least a 40% chance to hit every time it took a shot, and with Aggression, crits were 20+ damage. The Disc batted 4 for 6, killing 2 SGTs. I hadn’t lost any soldiers up to this point in the campaign, and was actually happy with that outcome; it could have been so much worse.
The terror mission was followed by a brush with the dreaded fatigue death spiral. Here is the ridiculous flurry of missions I had at the end of June and early July:
Jun 29: Alien Base Assault Jun 30: Abduction Jun 30: Downed Scout July 1: Abduction July 4: Terror July 4: Covert Extraction July 5: Council Mission (Bomb Disposal - 9 thin man drop-ins?!?)
Seven missions in seven days is brutal. My barracks held up as well as could be expected but was left in shambles. Everyone fatigued or injured; 11 wounded soldier, 2 dead, both SHIVs dinged up. I needed a full week before I could field a fresh team. Luckily there was a lull, and the barracks bounced back. Strangely the next mission was another Bomb Disposal, and so I had 2 of them back to back in July.
On July 9th, the US defected to the aliens. The aliens have been focusing on it with bombing runs, taking it all the way up to 100 panic. I was expecting it to leave at the end of the month, but it left mid-month. I’ve never seen that happen before - and I was kind of confused (more on this later). Anyway, I was quite pleased to lose that satellite, as it freed up an orbit slot for me to launch over India and acquire the Asia continent bonus, then kick off a bunch of foundry projects.
I missed another scout UFO, this time over Mexico, before my interceptors arrived in N. America. All told, the absence of interceptors has cost me a Satellite, and 2 scout UFO missions; quite the screw-up. Despite all this, I feel like everything is fine at the campaign level.
August
Technology: With Adv. Gauss weapons I know I will have the firepower I need to survive for a few months. After that I am free to pursue autopsies and then alien propulsion. Research is proceeding incredibly fast now, in part because I completed the 3rd lab at the start of the month. I am starting Pulse Lasers, soon after acquiring Gauss, which feels great.
Adv. Gauss Weapons Elerium Sectoid Commander Autopsy Mechtoid Autopsy Alien Power Systems Alien Propulsion Pulse Lasers
Engineering: The air game is getting a little rougher, and I am very pleased to get started with Improved Avionics and UFO Countermeasures now; both will take a month to complete. Upon reaching Adv. Gauss Weapons, I have all the resources I need to immediately build everything I want. The alloy and elerium scavenging projects are great. I can’t believe I skipped those in the previous campaign. The hell was I thinking?
Aug 1: Interceptor #10, rookie, Satellite Aug 3: Improved Avionics Aug 8: Respirator Implant x 3 Aug 11: UFO Countermeasures Aug 14: Shielding Pod, Gauss Railgun, Gauss Strike Rifle, Recoilless Launcher Aug 17: OTS Captains Aug 21: Phoenix Cannon Aug 24: Ammo Conservation
Base Buildout on August 31: Same as previous month.
Campaign Notes:
Shot down a Raider in Early August using 4 Interceptors all with Phoenix Cannons. I had Phoenix Coilguns but no other projects that increase fighting capabilities. The Hangar was beat up, but I gained a lot of resources.
Deluge was on Aug 17 a little earlier than I had expected. Reminder: To win Deluge, you only need to get a single soldier to the truck at the end of dam. Not sure what causes more aliens to drop-in; opening the dam spigots or moving forward on the map, or both.
Confounding Light was on Aug 19, like Deluge, earlier than anticipated. Both of these missions were in late September on my 1.36 campaign.
On August 20th the aliens take Canada. Again, a country leaves mid-month, but this time, Canada had not yet reached 100% panic. Asking on the Discord server, I learn that there is a new mechanic for countries to leave, and it’s 1% per point of panic over 80, each day; and they leave automatically if they reach 100 panic. I didn’t build my air force to handle this kind of thing, and so now I am scrambling interceptors over to other continents. I run a couple combat patrols and tamp down some unrest in Germany and Egypt, while blowing through all my cash. No other countries withdraw in August, but I am concerned about what might happen next month.
Another big concern is that I have not yet retired any soldiers, and this could cause my barracks to level up too slowly. I haven’t bought many recruits and I haven’t stacked missions on anyone. I will need to start doing both, but it’s getting a little late for this.